RESUMO
PIP: Only 2% of Haiti is forest land, a country formerly densely covered by trees. With 66% of farmland sloping more than 20 degrees and population density at more than 270 individuals per square kilometer, erosion is severe. Since 1950, the amount of arable land has decreased by 40% and per capita grain production has been halved. Moreover, repression and the gross maldistribution of land such that 4% of the farmers own more than 50% of the land have not helped make survival a viable option for most Haitians. Accordingly, more than 1.3 million Haitians, or 20% of the population, have left their homelands, many for other Caribbean destinations, and some 180,000 for the US and Canada. Others have moved to the country's urban slums. The author presents the stories of some of these migrants.^ieng